Monday, July 14, 2014

Elly in Love by Collen Oakes

Published June 24, 2014 by SparkPress

Curvy wedding florist Elly Jordan has had quite a year.
First, she had to design her ex-husband’s wedding to the mistress who split
them up, and then she broke up with the hottest musician this side of St.
Louis. Three months have passed since then, and now Elly is primed for
what promises to be the best wedding season of her life.

Helped by her loyal friends, Elly is on the verge of opening
a chic flower boutique uptown when BlissBride, a popular wedding reality
show, asks her to design the wedding of a famous—make that infamous–celebrity. Elly
is about to get everything she’s ever wanted, when a stranger shows up at her
store with a request that changes every aspect of her life–including her
budding relationship with deli owner Keith. As she struggles to stay calm in
the midst of growing chaos, Elly will learn the true meaning of love and
sacrifice.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed everything about Elly in Love. The setting was great. I could picture the flower shop with Elly’s
apartment above it. The smell of
flowers with the great window displays done by Snarky Teenager (never had a
real name.)

The characters were absolutely amazing. I loved how close Elly was with her friends
and how supportive her co-workers were of her.
I even loved Snarky Teenager, easily relating to her attitude and needs
for praise, since I have a teenager with the same attitude. Elly’s other co-workers were equally
entertaining and great secondary characters.
They kept me smiling and sometimes giggling at their silly antics added
so much to the story. Keith was another
favorite. He was understanding and
loving towards Elly from the very beginning.
I was worried when he would not take her to his house, but when he told
her the reasoning I was a little more understanding of it. Dennis, Elly’s brother, was another story for
me. I understood that he was all alone
after his father had died, but what a lazy excuse for a brother. I was frustrated with Elly for putting up
with him for so long before she started to put down her foot and try to hold
him accountable for his life. The pity
me story got old to me very fast.

Colleen Oakes is an author I have read in the past and will
continue to read in the near future. I
absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a light and easy
read.

Praise for the
book:

“Elly is so endearing that you can’t help falling in love
with her. I thoroughly enjoyed being on her journey as she dealt with love,
loyalty, friendship and following her dreams. Elly in Love is a
delightful story and I can’t wait to see what’s next for this character!” –
Susie Orman Schnall, author of On Grace

Colleen Oakes is the author of the Elly in Bloom series
and the YA fantasy Queen of Hearts Saga, both published via
SparkPress, a BookSparks imprint. She lives in North Denver with her husband
and son. When not writing, Colleen enjoys swimming, traveling, and immersing
herself in nerdy pop culture. She is currently at work on the last Elly
novel and her second YA fantasy series, Wendy Darling.

Thanks for stopping by A Novel Life! I am a mom to five and homeschool mom to three! I love reading, crocheting and sewing. I started blogging a few years ago writing book reviews. I'm looking to change my blog up a bit and write more about mom life! Hope you can stop by again!